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Dirk Leopold
Dirk Leopold (c. 30 September 1417 near Bilzen, Limburg - February 1477 in Grijzestad, Brunant) was a Flemish privateer. He is famous for his daring Battle of the Balearic Sea, which almost cost him his life and his reputation. Biography Early life Leopold was born sometime in September 1417, although many historians claim his date of birth to be around the 30th, but due to his parents being almost completely illiterate, the date is not official. He was born to an unknown mother and Dutch soldier Marten van Andrijk in modern-day Limburg, Belgium, near the village of Bilzen. In 1420, Leopold's father changed his family name to Leopold, so he could fit in more with the Flemish people. In 1424, Leopold's father was executed due to stealing money from the treasury. Leopold's mother then fled Limburg and was smuggled by relatives to Brunantstad, since they were already living there. Leopold was then taught by his uncle, Theodor van Andrijk in the ways of military. Leopold then finished his education in 1432, and moved to Grijzestad to enlist in the army. Adulthood Leopold enlisted in the army at age 15, and was notorious for being extremely dim-witted and horrible with any type of weapon except the sword, with earned him the name of Sir Dirk the Fool. He then decided that the army wasn't for him, so he decided to enlist in the navy. Quickly, he rose up the ranks and became High Admiral, which very few had achieved at the time, especially at his age. He was then sent a letter of marque by President Marten Sneijder in 1436 to become one of the first privateers and help the economy. Dirk quickly accepted, and he quickly became even more notorious, except this time, he was notorious for being able to loot and sink lots of ships in the Mediterranean. In his early privateer years, he kept over 70 percent of the loot and often left Sneijder with barely anything, so in June of 1440, Sneijder and some of the founding fathers of Brunant signed an agreement with Leopold that meant that Leopold had to give at least 60 percent of his income to the national bank. Leopold then continued to raid Spanish and Venetian trade caravels, but in one of these raids, he almost died and was considered extremely blessed to even still be alive. The Battle of the Balearic Sea On 3 August 1455, Leopold, his 3 ships and his total crew of around 100 had just sunk 2 Spanish trade caravels near the coast of Barcelona. What they didn't know was that 10 Spanish galleys had just seen the sinking, and were out for revenge against Leopold's crew. They didn't even see the ships until one of Leopold's scouts, Willem Holland, had seen the flag of Spain on the top of one of the ships. Leopold then turned around and fled, but the wind didn't push the way he was sailing, so it was extremely difficult to go away. One of the galleys took the chance and crashed into Leopold's own ship. The Spanish crew extremely outnumbered Leopold's own crew, so they easily slaughtered the men. It was just Leopold and around 10 men left on his ship out of 40, while the Spanish had 60 men. Leopold was certain he was going to die. But, just in time, Leopold's other ships crashed into the Spanish ship,flanking the men and killing them easily. The other ships then turned away and fled, since they had very few crew members on the ship. Leopold was severely injured, but he managed to survive, anyway. But, unfortunately, while the ships were trying to go into the port of Sint Anders, the Spanish ships returned and captured Leopold and all his men. He was ransomed for 500 Venetian ducats, but in Brunant, he was hailed as a courageous hero for surviving the attack and even scaring off the Spanish caravels. Later life Leopold was knighted by Leuvis Van Damme in 1476, and died in 1477 with no children and no wife. Category:Dead people Category:Military personnel